Check punching and marking machine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

v i G. WRIGHT.

CHECK PUNGHING AND MARKING MACHINE. No. 485,444. Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

INVENTU FR". Q41 J Eli...

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. G. WRIGHT.

4 CHECK PUNGHING AND MARKING MACHINE.

No. 485,444. Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

T :1 IIIIL "NYENTEJRZ 4 I (No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet; 3.

' G. WRIGHT. 1 v v CHECK PUNGHING AND MARKING MACHINE. No. 485,444.Patented Nov. 1, 1892.

Tu: nonms PETERS w. morau'mm wAsumuYon. o. c.

' UNITED ST TES PATENT QFFICE.

GILBERT WRIGHT, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHECK PUNCHING AND MARKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,444, dated November1, 1892.

Application filed January 4, 1892.

To all whom it may concern.-

Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and usefullmprovements in Check Punching andMarking Machines,'of which the following is a specification.

This invention has foritsobject to provide a machine for simultaneouslyprinting and punching bank-checks or other like articles of paper, sothat the check may be provided with characters indicating the value ofthe check, &c., which characters shall be formed both by printing andpunching, the printed portions of the characters making them clear andlegible, while the punched portions prevent the possibility ofalteration of the characters.

The invention consists, first, in a marking device comprising a printingcharacter or surface of elastic material formed to impress or print afigure, number, or other character upon a piece of paper, and a seriesof punches arranged to act simultaneously with the printing-surface informing a plurality of holes in the paper, which holes may be either inthe body of the printed character or outside of the same, the holes ineither case serving to prevent the possibilityof alteration of thecharacters without detection.

The invention also consists in certain improvements in the organizedmachine, including a series of said marking devices, all of which I willnow proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1 represents a top view of a check punching and marking machineembodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a rear elevation of the same.Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3 3,Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents a sideview of a portion of the machine. Figs. 5 and 6 represent, respectively,a top and a front view of the construction shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 7-represents different forms of combined printing and punching devicesembodying my invention. Fig. 8 representsan enlarged sectional viewshowing the position of one of the printing and punch: ing devices whenit is acting upon a check.

Fig. 9 represents an enlarged top view of the I punch-bed or die. Be itknown that l, GILBERT WRIGHT, of

Serial No. 416,991. (No model.)

Fig. 10 represents a sectional view hereinafter referred to.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

In the drawings, a represents a supportingframe, the base of which ispreferably of rectangular form, as shown in Fig. 1.

1) represents a fixed punch and impressionbed located on the frame a inposition to cooperate with the radially-movable punching and printingdevices hereinafter described, said bed having a series of orifices b,which are arranged in parallel rows extending both crosswise andlengthwise of the bed, said orifices being at uniform distances apartand serving to co-operate with the punches hereinafter described,whichconstitute parts of the marking devices.

, The machine is provided with a series of marking devices, which arepreferably one for each of the numerals, one for the sign of dollars,and one to form a dash. ing device is composed of a printing type orcharacter 0, preferably made of an elastic material, such as rubber, anda series of punches c, which are small steel rods arranged to coincidewith certain of the orifices in the bed I), as presently described. Theprinting character c and punches c are affixed to a block or plate 0 ofrigid material, which is formed on or attached to an arm d. Said arm ispivoted at cl to ears 01 on a vertically-movable plunger 01?, which is.adapted to move in a guide formed in the supporting-frame. The pivotalconnection of the arm d to the plunger d enables said arm to oscillatefrom the position shown in full lines to that shown in dotted lines inFig. 4., while the vertical movability of the plunger d permits the arm01 and the printing and punching device thereon to be depressed afterthe said arm reaches the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, thearm being then in position to cause its printing and punching devices todescend upon apiece of paper supported by the bed I), so that theprinting character 0 prints an impression upon the paper, punches at thesame time co-operating with certain of the orifices b in said bed inpunching holes in the check. The printing and punching characters areall constructed and operated in the same man- Each markner; hence adescription of the operation of one of said devices will suffice forall, it being only necessary to remark that the arms d and their pivots(Z are so arranged that the swinging motion of each arm from theposition shown in full lines to that shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4will bring the printing and punching device on said arm to a centralpoint common to all the arms-that is to say, when each arm is swung tothe position indicated in dotted lines its printing character will comeunder a plunger 6, which gives the printing and punching device itsdownward movement, said plunger acting on each printing and punchingdevice that is moved to the dotted-line position.

The preferred mechanism for operating the arm (Z and its printing andpunching device is as follows: f represents a vertically-movable rack,which is fitted in a vertical guide in the supporting-frame and isprovided with two series of teeth, as shown in Fig. 3, the teeth of oneseries meshing with a rack-segment d on the hub of the arm (1. grepresents a curved lever, which is pivoted at g to the supporting frameand is provided at its swinging end with a rack-segment g which mesheswith the other series of teeth on the rack f. The lever g is provided atits hub portion with a rack-segment g meshing with a similarrack-segment 9 formed on or aflixed to a key lever g which is pivoted atg to the supporting-frame and has at its outer end a key The rack f isnormally held in the elevated position shown in Fi 3 by means of aspring f, which surrounds a rod f attached to the rack f, the upper endof said spring hearing on a head at the upper end of said rod, while itslower end bears on a portion of the supportingframe. hen the rack fis inthe position shown in Fig. 3, it holds the lever d, with its printingand punching device, in contact with a segmental inking pad or surfaceh, which is arranged to serve for all the printing and punching devices,the key-lever g beingheld at its highest position. A depression of thekey 9 will cause a downward movement of the rack-segment g and rack f,thus causing the arm (I to swing in the direction indicated by the arrowin Fig. 3, the arm (1 and the printing and punching device thereon beingthus carried to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. YVhentheleverd reaches the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, theholder 0 strikes the lower end of the plunger e, so that no furtherswinging movement of the lever cl can take place. The rack-segment 9however, continues to descend after the stoppage of the swingingmovement of the lever cl, and thus causes the rackf in its continueddescent to impart a downward movement to the lever (Z, its printing andpunching character, and the plunger (Z to which said lever is pivoted.The plunger (Z is connected by a rod d with an arm (2, which is affixedto the upper end of the plunger 0.

The downward movement of the plunger (Z therefore causes the plunger etodescend and bear upon the upper surface of the holder 0 to which thepunches and printing character of the printing and punching device areaffixed. The plunger etherefore acts conjointly with the rack f, thekey-lever, and intermediate devices in imparting a positive downwardmovement to the lever (Z and its printing and punching device, causingthe inked printing device 0 to print an impression upon the check andthe punches c to perforate the same at points suitably related to theprinted impression, the printing and punching being effected during thelatter part of the downward movement of the key-lever. hen the key-leveris released, the plunger 6 and the connected plunger (1 are raised by aspring 0, and at the same time the rack f is raised by the spring f sothat the lever cl is simultaneously elevated and swung back to theposition indicated in full lines in Fig. 4, the printing character beingthus brought into contact with the inking-pad and inked for the nextoperation.

In connection with the mechanism above described I employ a feedingdevice adapted to feed the check after each printing and punchingoperation. Said feeding device coniprises two feed-rolls i i, which arejournaled upon studs i 'L", attached to or formed on arms 2' 1?, whichare mounted to swing vertically upon a stud t journaled in bearings onthe supporting-frame, the rolls '5 2' being thus made verticallymovable, so that they can be raised by the operator to permit theinsertion of the check under them upon an elongated portion a of theframe, which portion constitutes a check-supporting bed, with which thedieplate 11 is flush.

j represents a plate, which is provided with slots j j which are movableboth longitudinally and vertically upon the studs t", which support thefeed-rolls. Said plate is provided with an ear j having a cam-shapedslotj, which receives a stud j, aflixed to the plunger e. The platej isalso provided near its ends with ears ff, which are arranged to act aspawls to engage ratchetsj j aflixed to the feed-rolls 'i The depressionof the plunger 6 causes its stud j to act on the sides of the cam-shapedslotj in such manner as to move the plate j in the direction indicatedby the arrow marked thereon in Fig. 2, thus causing the pawlsj to engagethe teeth of the ratchets 7' and give a partial rotation to thefeed-rolls i 1', thus feeding the check along upon the bed a just beforethe printing and punching devices act upon the check. \Vhen the plungere rises after the printing and punching operation, the stud j, acting onthe walls of the slot 7 moves the platej in the opposite direction andresets it for the next feed-roll turning operation, the pawlsj beingpermitted by the slots 7" to rise during the backward movement of theplatej, and thus ride over one or more teeth of the ratchet j, theslotsj being made esthe check or other piece of paper that are incontact with the feed-roll, so that the rotation of the feed-rolls andthe movement of the check are not resisted by friction exerted onbed.

the under surface of the check. 7

By reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that one of the keys 9 is markedspace. This key is designed to move the check or piece of paper withoutmarking the same, and to this end the hub that is rotated by thedepression of the lever 9 supporting said key, through the intermediatemechanism above described, 3 is not provided with an arm d, carrying aprinting and punching device, but instead isprovided with a short arm orprojectiond as shown in Fig. 10, which is a sectional view of I aportion of the rack f that is operated by the space-key and. its leverand of the hub engaged by said rack. (Z is arranged to strike a part ofthe plunger d when the hub (P, on which said arm or projection isformed, has been given a partial rotation by the depression of thespace-key, the hub and the rack f being thus interlocked, as it were,with the plunger (1 so that the further downward movement of the rack fcauses the depression of the plungers d and e and the operation of thefeeding devices without operating a printing and punching device.

To insure the accurate register of each printing and punching devicewith the punch-bed b, I provide a guide m, which comprises a bracket orarm affixed to the supporting-frame by any suitable means and arrangedto project over the bed I), as shown in Fig. 3. Said bracket or arm isseparated from the bed by a space of sufficient height for the insertionof a check between it and the bed and is provided with an orifice m,formed at its lower portion to exactly fit the exterior of the printingcharacter 0, the upper portion m of said orifice being beveled, so thatits upper end is larger than said character, the beveled sides of theopening guiding the character 0 during its downward movement into thelower portion of the opening, which portion insures the correctregistering of the punches c with the holes I) in the punch-bed. Eachprinting and punching device may have the punches arranged to perforatethe paper either within or outside of the area printed upon, as shown inFig.7, which represents the impressions or marks that may be made inprinting the numerals 2 and 4:, the small circles on said figuresshowing the holes made bythe punches. It will be noticed that in two ofsaid figures the holes are within the body of the figure, while in theothers the holes are outside of said body. In either case the holesprevent the possibility of altering the figure, as will be readily seen.It is obvious that to prevent the raising of the check the perforations,when The arm or projection outside the body of the figure, must be invery close proximity thereto. The punches c are arranged in rowscorresponding to the arrangement of the holes I) in the bed 1), thearrangement of said holes enabling the punches to be distributed inaccordance with the form of the character which they accompany and insuch manner as to insure their coincidence with the corresponding holesin the punch- The printing character 0 (shown in Fig. 6) is intended torepresent the sign of dollars,

.but it will of course be understood that the other keys have charactersformed to print the desired figures, (lac.

The bedb may, if desired, be an imperforate bed or pad of a suitableyielding material, which will support the paper around'the punches andyet yield sufficiently to permit the punches to pass through the paper.I

believe it to be possible in some cases to dispense with the bed b andclamp the, paper tightly around the point upon which the character is tobe printed, the paper being clamped so tightly as to enable the punchesto be forced through it without the co-operation of a perforated orother bed below. I

'It is obvious that a printing and punching device substantially such asthat above described may be operated by hand or, by any other suitablemeans. Hence I do not limit myself to its use in connection with theabovedescribed mechanism.

I claim 1. A check printing and marking device comprising a printingtype or character, a series of punches connected with said type andarranged to penetrate the paper while the type is printing the same,said punches being formed to cut out pieces of the paper and arranged insuch relation to the printing-type as to identify the holes made bytheir action I with the character printed and prevent alteration of thelatter, and a bed adapted tocooperate with the punches in cutting outpieces of the paper, as set forth.

2. The combination of a fixed punch-bed having a series of holes and aprinting and punching device comprising a printing type or character anda series of punches connected with said type and movable with the'latter toward and from the bed, thepun'ches being formed and arrangedto co-operate with the' holes in the punch-bed in cutting out piecesfrom a slip of paper on said bed while the piece is being printed by thetype, and

thereby forming ineffaceable holes which are identified withthe'character printed, as set forth.

- 3. In a check-marking machine, the combination of a fixed punch-bedhaving a series of holes, a printing and punching device comprisingaprinting type or character and a series of punches connected with saidtype and adapted to co-operate with the holes in the punch-bed incutting out pieces from a slip of 'paper,and thereby formingineffaceable holes, means for forcing said device against a check on thebed, and a fixed guide arranged to insure the proper position of theprinting and punching device relatively to the holes in the bed whensaid device is approaching the bed, as set forth.

4. In a check-marking machine, the combination of a movable support,such as a plunger d", an arm or bar pivotally connected to said supportand provided with a printing and punching device at its swinging end, aplunger 6, connected with said support, a movable device, such as therack f, whereby said arm may be given first an independent swingingmotion and then a rectilinear motion with its support, and means foroperating the said rack, as set forth.

5. In a check-marking machine, the combination of a check-supporting bedor table, a plunger movable toward and from said bed, feed-rollsarranged to move a check along the bed, a series of printing andpunching devices, each having a swinging movement radially toward andfrom said plunger and a rectilinear movement with the plunger, means fordepressing the plunger to force it downwardly with a printing andpunching device, and feed-roll-operating mechanism actuated by themovements of said plunger, as set forth.

6. In a check-marking machine, the combination of a pivoted lever or barcarrying at its swinging end a printing and punching device and at itspivoted end a series of gear-teeth, a plunger LP, to which said lever ispivoted, a rack-bar engaged with said teeth, a key-lever and connectionsbetween it and said rack-bar whereby the latter may be depressed, thedepression of said rack-bar first swinging the lever, then giving it andthe plunger (Z a rectilinear movement, and a plunger e, connected withthe plunger d and moved thereby, the printingand punching device beingpresented to the plunger 6 by the swingingmovement of the lever andcaused to operate by the said plunger e during the said rectilinearmovement, as set forth.

7. In a check-marking machine, the combination of a pivoted lever or barcarrying at its swinging end a printing and punching device and at itspivoted end a series of gearteeth, a plunger d to which said lever ispivoted, a rack-bar engaged with said teeth, a pivoted key-lever havinga gear-segment, and a pivoted intermediate lever having at one end agear-segment engaged with the gearsegment on the key-lever and at theother end a gear-segment engaged with said rackbar, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 24th day of December, A. D.1891.

GILBERT WRIGHT. Witnesses:

O. F. BROWN, A. D. HARRISON.

